The Fair Labor Standards Act exempts several categories from the minimum wage, including bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees, certain agricultural workers, some seasonal and recreational establishments, and outside sales staff. Exemption turns on duties and how you are paid, never on a job title — calling someone a manager does not make them exempt.
The rule behind all of them
Exemption is a factual test about what you actually do, applied by a court or an agency to the real work. An employer’s classification is a claim, not a finding, and the burden of establishing an exemption sits with the employer.
The main categories
Executive, administrative and professional. The largest group, and the one covered in detail in the overtime pillar, because it turns on both a salary test and a duties test.
Outside sales. Employees whose primary duty is making sales away from the employer’s place of business.
Certain agricultural employment, with conditions tied to the size and nature of the operation.
Seasonal amusement and recreational establishments, subject to tests about how much of the year they operate.
Some small newspapers, fishing operations and casual domestic work such as occasional babysitting.
The misclassifications that come up most
Independent contractor status applied to someone working like an employee. Interns doing work the organization would otherwise pay for. Assistant managers who spend their week doing the same tasks as the staff they nominally supervise.
Each of these is a factual dispute rather than a matter of paperwork, and each is resolved by what the week actually looked like.
State law can be narrower
A federal exemption does not necessarily exist in your state. Several states apply tighter tests or none at all for particular categories, and the more protective rule governs.
If you think you are misclassified
Write down what you actually do in a normal week, with rough time shares. That document is the whole case, and it is far easier to write while you are doing the job than afterwards.
Common questions
Does my job title decide whether I am exempt?
No. Exemption turns on your actual duties and how you are paid, and the burden of establishing it sits with the employer.
Which categories are exempt from the minimum wage?
Bona fide executive, administrative and professional staff, outside sales, certain agricultural work, some seasonal recreational establishments, and a few narrower categories.
Are interns exempt?
Only in narrow circumstances. Where an intern is doing work the organization would otherwise pay someone to do, that is usually employment.
Can state law differ?
Yes, and the more protective rule governs. Several states apply tighter tests than the federal ones or do not recognize a given exemption.
What should I do if I think I am misclassified?
Write down what you actually do in a normal week with rough time shares. That record is the case, and it is far easier to write while doing the job.